First Mission (3)
Orion moved with them to a nearby abandoned building.
It took some time, but he could hardly ignore people who were wounded and exhausted.
"Urgh…"
"Just hold on a little longer. Once we get back, you'll be able to receive proper treatment."
The man who had lost an arm groaned. The place was enclosed on all sides and offered somewhere to lean against, but the ceiling was open to the sky, so it did nothing to keep out the freezing wind. For the injured, it was a brutal environment.
"Ah, look at me. I've been so out of my mind I nearly failed to thank the man who saved our lives. I am Carlson. This fellow is Darwin. We are both beast hunters belonging to the guild."
The man who introduced himself as Carlson bowed to Orion at a full ninety degrees, every bit of courtesy in the gesture.
"Ghh… Thank you. Truly."
The wounded Darwin tried to match the bow, but Orion stopped him.
"It's fine. Just take it easy."
Treatment came first—before he heard the full story. Between here and the walls lay the beasts he had already dealt with, so the risk of another attack was far lower. If they were careful, they could make it. The problem was getting there at all. Saving them meant nothing if they collapsed on the way back.
"All right. Let's see."
Orion shrugged off his oversized pack and checked the contents.
"Whoa."
He had half expected it, but the bag held a complete set of medical supplies. Ready-to-use bandages, potions and pills stacked neatly one atop another. If he ever wanted to marry that girl, a hundred and eight bows of gratitude wouldn't cut it—he'd need something more like ten thousand eight hundred. Truly the finest bride candidate in the world.
"Uh… painkillers and disinfectant… Ah. Found it."
She had labeled every medicine in the prettiest handwriting imaginable, just in case he wouldn't know what each one was for. Even a child could have figured it out at a glance.
"Here. Let me take a look."
"Ah—I'll do it. Just hand those over."
As Orion approached with the supplies, Carlson—who was in relatively better shape—spoke up.
"No. You sit down too."
"H-huh?"
"I have to get this man home, don't I? If you collapse on the way, I'm the one in trouble."
Relatively better was still a long way from fine. Carlson was covered in bruises and scrapes. There was no order to who went first when infection set in—if he caught tetanus like that, there was no telling what would happen.
And so the two of them quietly submitted to treatment. Even Darwin, whose face had been deathly pale, gradually stabilized and came back to himself. Once his breathing had returned to normal, Darwin lifted his head to thank his savior once more.
"W-wait. You are…"
Bewilderment flooded Darwin's expression.
"What is it all of a sudden?"
Carlson tilted his head and stepped closer. Darwin seized his arm with a trembling hand.
"Y-you are the lord's guard knight, are you not?!"
At the absurd claim, Carlson frowned.
"What are you talking about? There's no way that man would be out here."
"It's true!! I saw his face with my own two eyes at the inauguration!!"
Darwin pointed at the sword hanging at Orion's side.
"And look at that blade!! That is unmistakably the sword of the former lord, Lord Derek!! Our lord bestowed it upon him—there can be no doubt!!"
Ah. So that's what it was?
Just as Orion stumbled into learning the true identity of his sword, the two men dropped to their knees with eyes wide as saucers.
"S-Sir Knight. Forgive us for failing to recognize you. We are deeply ashamed."
"See? I told you I was right! Sir Knight, please forgive my companion's rudeness!"
Orion wore an awkward look. He couldn't deny a flicker of superiority at the taste of authority, but there was no time for this.
"It's fine, so get up. I'm rather busy at the moment, so if you could just summarize what happened…"
Both men nodded at once.
After hearing their story, Orion sank into thought. He had assumed they had simply gone out hunting beasts and been injured through a lack of skill—but the truth was far more serious than that.
"So you're saying there's a leader directing the beasts?"
Carlson answered. Of the two, he had been the clearer-headed and had seen and heard more.
"Yes. I never saw the leader myself, but in all the years I've done this work, I've never seen beasts move with such organization!"
"Hmm."
Beasts had no intelligence. At least, that was how it had always felt. They flinched from the strong and piled onto the weak—pure instinct, nothing more. This might well be connected to the reports of their numbers surging.
"More importantly—why did the two of you go there in the first place?"
Both men flinched. He had struck the mark after all.
"Oh? I've been hearing that beasts have been multiplying lately. And that's exactly the direction you mentioned, isn't it?"
Orion tipped his head as if to say, Tell me the truth, and Carlson reluctantly opened his mouth.
"…The truth is, we knew about the rumors as well. But that was precisely why we went."
"It looks dangerous just from the sound of it."
Carlson's expression turned bitter. Darwin beside him was no different.
"…Of course it looks foolish. But we had no choice."
Orion listened closely.
"Each of us has a family to support. And as you know, Sir Knight, a beast hunter's income drops sharply in winter—and becomes terribly unstable."
Beasts had appetites too. That was why they attacked humans on sight. In a winter this cold, most animals hibernated. That meant less food for the beasts—and fewer beasts overall.
"We are not strong men. A lifetime of this work has barely kept food on the table. But in winter, competition among beast hunters turns fierce. The strong monopolize the prey."
That made sense. A guild was no charity. It was simply a gathering of individuals acting for their own gain. If the strong took most of the beasts, no one could really complain.
"…So the moment we heard the news, we laid our plans earlier than anyone. We meant to take those beasts before anyone else could."
Darwin chimed in beside him.
"In crude terms, we were after one big score. Deep down we knew it might end like this… but greed got the better of us."
Both men hung their heads, utterly crestfallen. Even Carlson, who was in better shape, would be unable to work for about a year in that condition. As for Darwin, who had lost an arm—there was nothing more to say.
Ugh…
Hearing their circumstances, Orion found the story painfully understandable. Both men had only been trying for their families. The direction they'd chosen hadn't been right—but that didn't mean he could simply tell them to try something else. A single remark like that wouldn't solve anything. It would only be hypocrisy.
Even so, there was something he wanted to say. Orion rested a hand on each of their shoulders and spoke.
"I have no right to lecture two men old enough to be my father on how to live their lives. Still, as someone's son, I'd like to say one thing."
Orion smiled.
"Your families love you, don't they?"
The two men looked at each other, exchanged a glance, and nodded.
"And you? Do you love your families as well?"
Tears welled and spilled from both men's eyes.
"Of course we do! How could we not!"
"How could I not love my family?! I love them more than anything!"
The words rang with absolute sincerity. Orion's smile softened, and he went on.
"Then you must also treasure yourselves."
"Ghh…"
"Hic…"
"You need to remember that there are people waiting for you—people who worry about you—back where you belong."
Orion looked them straight in the eye.
"Someone who has already left this world cannot hold their grief and still comfort those left behind."
"Ah…"
"So in everything you do, I hope you'll think of the people who would be left behind. Do you understand what I mean?"
Both men nodded through their tears. The weight of those words lingered for a long while after.
"Hah. No way I'm getting back before evening at this rate."
Alone again after seeing them off, Orion found that far more time had slipped away than expected. He felt no regret, though. Their faces as they said goodbye had been so brilliantly bright.
"Well. They'll handle the rest."
He had left them with a request. According to them, most of the guild would be heading that way by now. He had asked them to make up whatever excuses they needed and stop anyone from going there. Honestly, coming from men injured that badly, it would be stranger if no one listened.
"Haa. Still… a leader, huh."
Some kind of mutant, maybe? A beast that commanded other beasts. He couldn't begin to guess what sort of creature it might be.
He was heading toward his destination when it happened.
"Heh. Yeah, anyone would think the same looking at this."
After about an hour of travel, he found the tracks. Beasts generally did not live in packs. Their numbers might cause their paths to overlap, but they never truly cooperated. So what exactly did these footprints mean?
"They're practically marching in formation."
Not perfectly drilled, but every print faced the exact same direction. Those mindless beasts were all moving together.
Orion gave a wry smile.
"This… am I even going to make it home today?"